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The meaning and origin of the expression: Beware of Greeks bearing gifts

Beware of Greeks bearing gifts

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What's the meaning of the phrase 'Beware of Greeks bearing gifts'?

Don't trust your enemies.

What's the origin of the phrase 'Beware of Greeks bearing gifts'?

Beware of greeks bearing giftsAn allusion to the story of the wooden horse of Troy, used by the Greeks to trick their way into the city. It is recorded in Virgil's Aeneid, Book 2, 19 BC:

"Do not trust the horse, Trojans. Whatever it is, I fear the Greeks even when they bring gifts."

Of course that English version is a translation. Another translation, by John Dryden, has "Trust not their presents, nor admit the horse."

The same thought was also recorded by Sophocles (496 - 406 BC), in Ajax:

Nought from the Greeks towards me hath sped well.
So now I find that ancient proverb true,
Foes' gifts are no gifts: profit bring they none.

The Classics are no longer widely taught or read, so this phrase is now little used, although it was resurrected in a sideways reference during a 1990s copyright dispute. There was considerable discussion then, in Internet chat rooms etc., regarding the company Compuserve, which owned the copyright to the GIF image format, and their possible intentions to restrict its use. Some people feared that they might be taken to law by Compuserve if they received and viewed GIF images without permission. The phrase "beware of geeks bearing gifs" was coined to sum that up.

See also: the List of Proverbs.

Gary Martin - the author of the phrases.org.uk website.

By Gary Martin

Gary Martin is a writer and researcher on the origins of phrases and the creator of the Phrase Finder website. Over the past 26 years more than 700 million of his pages have been downloaded by readers. He is one of the most popular and trusted sources of information on phrases and idioms.

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